Friendships Can Be Fatal
by Ostrich on a Rampage
Summary: Spencer Reid is quite surprised to get a call from an old friend from college: Evan Lawson. But, when the two get together to figure out if Evan's older brother Hank is in danger, they may get much more than they bargained for. Now it's up to the BAU to find the missing persons and bring them home safe and sound. Hopefully.
1. Chapter 1

**I've been wanting to do a Criminal Minds and Royal Pains crossover for quite a while now, so here it is. This is looking to be roughly eight chapters, but my estimates never turn out accurate, so we'll see as we go along. Reviews are always welcome! Tell me what you think, or I'll just assume everyone is thinking of ostriches. (It's what I think about.)**

* * *

SSA Aaron Hotchner leaned back against his chair, stretching his back after filling out an insane amount of paperwork. He'd be so much happier if paperwork didn't need to be filed, but he also understood the necessity of it. Agent Jennifer Jareau gently knocked on his door, drawing Hotch's attention from his desk. "We've got a case."

"Okay, get everyone gathered," Hotch commanded, gathering a couple papers and organizing the piles they had been placed in.

JJ was half out of the door, before she turned back to her boss. "Hey, where's Reid?" she asked, confusion creasing her brow. Spencer Reid rarely missed a day of work and had had to be forced into sick leave after his kidnapping and battle with anthrax. Even then, he ended up sneaking back into the BAU a week early to help with a case.

"He's taking the day off," Hotch explained.

"Did he say why?" JJ asked.

Hotch shook his head. "No, but he'll be back tomorrow. You can ask him then."

JJ nodded to herself, leaving Hotch's office to gather her fellow FBI agents. She made a mental reminder to ask Reid what was going on the following day.

* * *

Spencer Reid made his way down the boardwalk, very grateful for his sunglasses. It was bright out, the sun gleaming in the cloudless sky. The water, conspiring with the sun to blind people, was reflecting the sunlight off of its waves, flashes of light catching Reid's eyes. He examined the crowd, suddenly unsure that he'd even be able to recognize his old friend. It had been twelve years. Twelve years and suddenly a phone call out of the blue.

"Spencer?"

The call came from his left and Reid quickly turned, suddenly finding himself in a bone-crushing hug. Not really one for human contact, Reid awkwardly patted his old friend on the back. "Evan, how are you doing?"

Evan Lawson was probably about two inches shorter than his younger friend, but his exuberant personality made up for the height difference. He had curly brown hair that bounced with his excitement.

"Pretty good. How about you?" Evan stepped back, grinning wildly. "Man, it's been forever since I've seen you. How long has it been? Glad to see you've outgrown your dorky sixteen year old mullet. And you got super tall, too. Wow, man. What have you been up to?"

Reid grinned at the barrage of questions, realizing that he actually had missed his college buddy. "I'm good. It's been twelve years. And I work for the FBI now."

Evan's eyes widened significantly. "Are you serious? That's amazing man. And how old are you now, twenty-seven?"

"Twenty-eight," Reid corrected.

"Man, you make me feel old," Evan complained. "I was trying to convince myself that thirty was still young. But, look at you. Skinny as ever."

Reid laughed. "It's actually probably due to my metabolism, which actually—"

Evan cut his friend off. "And still spouting facts. You haven't changed much, have you?" Evan smiled. "It's good to see you again, Spencer."

"Yeah, about that," Reid began, "why did you text me? You said you needed my help?"

Evan immediately sobered. "You want to get some food? Joe's Crab Shack is just over there. We can talk over crab," Evan suggested.

"Sounds great," Reid acquiesced.

Once the two friends were situated at a picnic table, meals in front of them, Evan began to speak. "You're the smartest guy I know," Evan told his friend. "You're a genius, don't even try to deny it. My brother, Hank, he's a concierge doctor out here. He does a lot of good. Anyway, he's received two threats."

"Did you take it to the police?" Reid asked around his mouthful of crab.

"Yeah, but they said not to worry."

"And you're still worried?"

Evan looked indignant. "Well, yeah, he's my brother." He set his crab down. "I don't know, Spencer. I just… It just feels real."

Reid shrugged. "It is important to trust your intuition." He took another bite of the crab before continuing, "Do you have the threats with you?"

Evan frowned sheepishly. "Actually, I forgot them at home. I only realized after I had arrived here and I didn't want to head back and miss you and then you just head back to wherever the heck you're living now. But, if you're willing, we could just go back there and take a look at the notes."

"Yeah, that's fine. I've got nothing better to do," Reid admitted. "I took the day off of work."

"Fantastic! I can show you around the Hamptons."

Reid got his own personalized tour of the Hamptons on the way to Boris' garden house, where Evan resided. Evan pointed out the rich and richer people and told Reid tales of alcohol poisoning and broken limbs. Reid laughed at Evan's antics and hilarious tales of Mrs. Newburg; he hadn't had this much fun for quite a while. It was nice to have a friend that he trusted, that he could be himself around and not have to worry about keeping up appearances. Reid had been worried that, after twelve long years, he would not know how to act around Evan, but his friend had a personality that allowed anyone to feel comfortable in his presence.

Eventually, they arrived at Boris' mansion. "You live here?" Reid asked, examining the large expansive house.

"I wish," Evan responded. "Hank and I live in his garden house. It's plenty spacious, but it isn't mansion spacious."

"Few things are," Reid agreed.

Evan showed Reid around his house, pointing out the most important aspects, such as the fridge and microwave. Reid was really interested in the connecting room filled with all of Hank's medical equipment. "How does this concierge doctor business work?" Reid asked.

Before Evan could explain the family business, Hank entered. "Evan?" he called out, "I have a meeting with a client in a half hour, if you want to come and see if you could get another retainer." He paused mid-step, catching sight of Reid. "Oh, I'm Hank Lawson, Evan's older brother."

Reid extended his hand as Evan introduced him. "Hank, this is Dr. Spencer Reid."

Hank's eyebrows raised slightly. "Dr.? What's your specialty?"

"Mathematics, Chemistry, and Engineering." Hank blinked at Reid in slight confusion. "I'm not a medical doctor," Reid added in explanation.

Hank cocked his head slightly. "Three PhDs? How old are you?"

"Twenty-eight," Reid admitted.

"He's a genius, certified and everything," Evan explained proudly.

"Yeah?" Hank asked. "Then why in the world are you hanging out with my idiot brother?"

"Hey," Evan complained. "For your information, we met at MIT and became friends then."

Hank shot Reid a strange look. "MIT? Evan was there over ten years ago. That would have made you," he paused, trying to do the math.

"Sixteen. I was sixteen when I met Evan."

"It's really a funny story," Evan said, sitting at the table and gesturing for Reid to sit across from him. As Evan began his story, Hank poured out three glasses of water and leaned against the counter, settling himself for Evan's story. "This was back when I was a freshman at MIT. We were a few months into the fall semester and I was going to the Barker Library to do some research for one of my Comp Sci classes. I ended up running into Spencer and a group of guys in the hallway. They were teasing him and shoving him around. I did what any good person would have done and I told the guys to back off. Honestly, I don't think I scared them off. I mean, I was just a little freshman. The security guard that happened to come down the hallway probably did the trick. Anyway, we went to the Stream Café. We became friends over this killer soup they serve there."

Reid muttered softly, "I could have handled myself."

Evan nodded. "I'm sure you could have, but I wanted to help." He turned to Hank, continuing, "Anyway, now Spencer's an FBI agent. So," here, he hesitated, glancing at Reid, then back at Hank, "I was hoping he could take a look at those threats you received."

"That's what this is about?" Hank exclaimed, slightly indignant. "Evan, nothing's wrong. The police said it was just a practical joke from some stupid teenager."

"If it's alright by you, I'd like to take a look at it anyway. Just to make sure," Reid interrupted, before the two brothers could get at each other's throats. "I'm a profiler in the Behavioral Analysis Unit, BAU for short," he added.

Hank nodded. "Fine. If it will get Evan off of my back, I'll do anything." He left the room, returning with two small sheets of paper in his hand. "Here," he said, handing the papers to Reid.

Reid quickly scanned the notes. One threatened Hank, commanding him to leave the Hamptons or "regret everything." The other merely informed Hank that he would pay dearly. Reid reread the notes, not knowing how Evan would react to his next words. "I don't think there's cause to worry," he said softly, avoiding Evan's eyes.

"What? What do you mean?" Evan asked angrily. "Someone is threatening my brother and you're telling me not to worry about it?"

"Well, if you look at the notes, the first thing you notice is that a threat isn't actually specified."

"So?" Evan asked, folding his arms against his chest. "Maybe they just want to inspire fear or leave us wondering."

"Not usually. Often, if there isn't an action specified it is because it's an empty threat." Reid looked up at Hank and Evan. "This is a good thing, Evan. It means that your brother is safe. You don't need to be worried about anything."

Evan shook his head. "You know when you get that strange feeling in your gut? You feel like you need to vomit, but you're not sick. You just know that something bad is going to happen. I have that feeling. This isn't fake."

Reid shrugged, setting the threats on the table. "They look fake."

Before Evan could respond or Hank could reassure his brother, a scream reverberated through the house. "Help me!" a man screamed. "My daughter!"

Hank immediately grabbed his medical bag and dashed out of the house. Evan was right behind him, with Reid trailing close behind. Outside their house, on the gravel driveway, an older man crouched beside a still girl, her blonde hair splayed out behind her head. "I'm a doctor," Hank explained, crouching beside the man.

"I know," the father admitted. "I was taking her to get her checked up, but when we got here she ran and tripped and hit her head. I didn't want to move her; I heard you weren't supposed to do that."

Hank nodded tersely. He quickly began examining the young girl, but when he tilted her head slightly to see if she was bleeding, the girl grinned, giggling a little. "What?" Hank muttered, sitting back on his heels. He turned to the father, only to find himself face to face with a gun.

Seeing the weapon, Reid immediately reached for his gun, only to remember that he had left his gun back in his car. He hadn't thought that he would need a gun. Now, he really wished that he had kept it on him anyway.

"What are you doing?" Evan exclaimed. "I'll call the police," he threatened.

"I wouldn't, if I were you." The deep voice came from behind them. Upon turning around, Reid and Evan discovered another man there with his own gun. He was taller than Reid, with a dusky skin tone and dark eyes.

"Look, I'm sure we can just talk this out," Evan suggested, holding his hands out in supplication.

The man simply growled, "Get in the car." He gestured to the minivan a couple of feet away.

Evan gaped at the man, "You're kidnapping us? Is that what this is?"

"Evan…" Hank warned softly.

"No, Hank, this is crazy. This doesn't happen. Not to people like us."

"Actually, statistics show that—" Reid began, but was cut off when the second man with the gun turned to him.

"And who are you?" he asked, carefully pointing the gun at Reid's chest.

Reid swallowed, trying to ignore the gun trained on him. "I'm a friend. Evan and I knew each other in college. We were just getting lunch together. Catching up, you know." His eyes flicked up to the man, wondering what he would do if he discovered that he was an FBI agent. All sorts of unfortunate deaths flashed through Reid's mind.

"Seems like today was your unlucky day," he growled. He then held out his hand. "Phones," he commanded.

Reid carefully pulled out his phone, grateful that the man wasn't patting him down. He'd surely discover his badge if that happened. Evan and Hank followed suit and soon all three cell phones were in the pocket of the darker man. "Get in the van," he said, gesturing with his gun.

Reluctantly, the three men made their way to the minivan. Reid's brain was whirling as he attempted to come up with some sort of way for them to escape, but nothing was coming to mind. Very self-conscious of the guns trained on his back, Reid decided that the best route of action was to obey the two men's orders. Hopefully, there'd be a chance for escape once they reached their destination.

The older man, with graying hair, gently helped the young girl up, dusting the dirt off of her pink dress. "Come on, princess. We're going back home," he told the young girl.

"Yay!" she exclaimed, bouncing up and down a little. "Are your friends coming?"

"They are, honey. We're going to play some very interesting games with them."

The little girl's tinkling laughter echoed through the empty courtyard.


	2. Chapter 2

**My update day is generally Tuesday, but since tomorrow is going to be hectic and I really don't think I'll have time to post tomorrow. So, here's the chapter, a day early! The BAU team will be in the next chapter, so all Hotch, Morgan, Garcia, Prentiss, and JJ fans, rest assured. They are coming. Please read and review!**

* * *

After the man and his daughter had climbed in the car, they had promptly blindfolded and handcuffed the three men. The young girl had laughed and asked her father if they planned to play "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" or if there would be a piñata. She had then proceeded to poke Reid in the ear for the entirety of the car ride, successfully distracting him from memorizing the route they had taken from Evan and Hank's house. Eventually, the car rolled to a stop and Evan, Hank, and Reid were assisted out of the car and rushed into a house. They were led down a flight of stairs and then left by themselves with a threat that their captors would be back.

"Can anyone get their blindfold off?" Reid asked, rubbing his face against his shoulder in an effort to dislodge the fabric.

"Almost," Evan grunted, as the fabric moved up his face. Finally, he managed to move the blindfold up to his forehead, allowing him to see his surroundings. "We're in a basement." He examined the basement, but couldn't see anything that could be useful. "You guys got your blindfolds off?" Evan asked.

"Yeah," Reid said, finally getting the obscuring fabric away from his eyes. He looked around the room, searching for anything that could possibly help them. They were surrounded by boxes; it looked as if their abductors had just moved in and were not finished unpacking. Or they were about to move and were just finishing packing. But, other than the numerous boxes, Reid could not see anything else that could help them. He was very thankful for the lone bulb that hung from the ceiling, providing at least a small amount of light. Reid didn't really want to be stuck in the dark at the moment.

"I can't get it off," Hank muttered.

Evan scooted back to where Hank was beside him. "Lean down and I'll pull it off your eyes," he instructed.

"You know," Hank observed, "I'm really not completely comfortable with putting my head down near your butt."

"It's that or remain blind."

"Fine," Hank relented, leaning down. Evan's fingers gently ran over his brother's face as he searched for the blindfold. "Ow! You just poked me in the eye!"

Evan frowned. "Well, sorry for trying to help you."

"You just about really blinded me," Hank pointed out, once Evan had removed his blindfold.

"So," Evan began, "how do we get out of this Mr. FBI agent?"

"FBI?" a voice came from the stairs.

Evan's mouth dropped open as he quickly asked, "Did I say FBI agent? I meant eff my patience. 'Cuz I'm not patient. Like, at all. Can we leave now please?" Beside him, Reid barely resisted rolling his eyes.

"Are you an agent?" the dusty skinned man asked, kneeling in front of Reid. "I know these two aren't FBI, couldn't if they tried, but you I don't know." He cocked his head. "You don't look FBI. What's your name?"

"What's yours?" Reid shot back.

"You can call me Dave."

"You can call me Spencer."

Dave continued to stare at him, before seeming to decide something. "I don't believe you." Before Reid could say or do anything, Dave had shoved him to the floor and was digging through Reid's pockets. If he found Reid's wallet first, chances were he would stop searching and not discover that Reid was, in fact, an FBI agent. Unfortunately, luck was not with Reid. Dave sat back, examining the federal badge. "Steve!" he shouted. "Steve!"

"What?" the other man asked angrily, stomping down the stairs. "Maggie's trying to watch her TV show and you're just shouting and shouting. I thought you'd take care of this quietly?"

"He's a Fed," Dave said, tossing the badge to Steve. "You abducted a Federal Agent."

"This isn't my fault," Steve complained, throwing the badge on the ground in anger. "How was I supposed to know he was an agent?"

"You're the one who was all gung-ho about nabbing them, even though someone was with them."

"Okay, fine. It's my fault. Does that make you feel better?"

Dave ran his hand through his thick black hair. "What are we supposed to do, Steve? Kill him?"

"Killing FBI agents is bad," Steve pointed out. "Like, life in prison bad."

"Well, so is kidnapping them, so we're already in too deep, if that's what you're afraid of."

Steve threw his hands in the air. "Fine. Kill him. See what I care."

"Wait!" Reid exclaimed. "You're wrong. Just abducting me, yes, that's bad, but it isn't bad enough to land you life in prison. Not if you don't kill anyone. Not me, not Evan, not Hank. You'll go to jail, that's guaranteed, but your best bet is actually keeping me alive."

Dave thrust his gun under Reid's chin. "And what if you're just saying that to save your skin? Why should I believe you?"

"Probably because it makes sense," Evan pointed out, ignoring Hank's attempts to shush him. "Your best bet is to keep him alive."

"What's it to you?" Dave asked Evan. "He's your buddy of sorts?"

Before Evan could answer, Maggie trotted down the stairs. "Daddy, what are you doing?"

"Nothing," Dave and Steve answered simultaneously.

"I'm kinda hungry. Can we have dinosaur nuggets for dinner?" she asked, her big blue eyes pleading.

Steve immediately softened. "Of course, honey. Come on, Dave. We can come back after someone is s-l-e-e-p-i-n-g," he said, spelling out the final word.

Dave gave the three prisoners one last look. "I will be back and you will pay. You will pay, Hank Lawson." He glared at them one last time, before following Steve and Maggie up the stairs.

"What does he have against you?" Reid asked Hank.

Hank tried to shrug, but the handcuffs restricted his movements. He settled for speaking instead, "I don't know. I've never seen either of the men in my life."

It felt like it was late at night, but Reid couldn't be entirely sure, since there were no windows in the basement and his arm with his watch was twisted painfully backward, so he couldn't check the time on there. They had been abducted around two in the afternoon, but the car ride had been long. Definitely over an hour. And the young girl had wanted dinner. After the girl and her fathers had gone upstairs, the three men had sat in silence, each lost in their thoughts. But, it hadn't been too long, right? Maybe it was later than Reid thought. Either way, they needed to figure out a way out of here. And the only way to do that was through Hank.

"You've got to think," Reid whispered to Hank. "Once we figure out who these men are and why they are attacking you, it will be easier to profile them and use their profile against them."

"I get that, I do," Hank responded, wearily, "but I have no idea who these men are. I have never seen them in my life."

"Why would they attack you specifically then? You've got to have bothered them somehow. Maybe cut them in line to a movie or got the last item at a grocery store? It can be as insignificant as that," Reid pointed out.

"I don't know. I can't remember."

"Come on, Hank. We need to figure this out," Evan said. His shoulders were aching and he was tired. When he had watched movies as a kid, often the intrepid hero had been captured, sort of like this situation. But, Evan was fast discovering that being kidnapped was not nearly as glorious as the movies made it to be. It was painful. And frightening. Evan really just wanted to go back home and sleep. Thoughts of his bed, soft and warm, made his shoulders ache even more. "We need to get out of here."

Hank turned on his brother. "Don't you think I know that? I have no idea who these men are. I've never met them until today." He sighed, before admitting, "I wish I had taken those threats seriously."

"There's no way you would have known," Reid pointed out. "They weren't specific enough to appear credible. I didn't think they were real."

"I knew they were serious," Evan muttered. "You guys should have trusted me. Then we wouldn't even be in this position, probably."

Reid shook his head. "No, these men would have gotten to Hank some other time, some other way."

The three men remained silent for a moment, before Evan broke the silence, unable to take it any longer. "Do you think your FBI buddies are looking for you?"

"I'm sure they will be, but not in the right place. I took the day off, but I didn't tell Hotch, my boss, where I was going. When I don't show up for work tomorrow, they'll probably look in Las Vegas, check to see if I'm with my mom. They would never think to look out in the Hamptons."

"Oh," Evan said softly. "So, we're basically stuck here without hope for a rescue?"

"Not necessarily," Hank said quickly, not wanting his brother to worry about their possibly impending doom. "Divya will notice that we aren't there in the morning. She'll contact the police. They'll find us."

"How can you be so sure?" Evan asked, his voice bitter.

Hank laughed slightly. "Because it's Divya. She's not going to let the cops stop until we're home, safe and sound."

Footsteps sounded on the stairs, stumbling and uncertain. The three men immediately quieted, awaiting what the footsteps would bring. Dave stumbled to a stop at the base of the stairs, the wall holding him up more than his own strength. He examined the three men, his eyes lingering on Evan. "It's late," Dave said, his voice slurring.

Reid frowned. If he was already drunk, then this didn't bode well for any of them. Drunk UnSubs were wildly unpredictable. Reid didn't want to think what would happen to him if Dave remembered that he was an FBI agent. He wanted to say something, but words were at a loss. "If it's late, why don't you just go back upstairs to get some sleep?" Reid suggested, saying the first thing that came to his mind. "You look tired." Hopefully, appearing as the concerned hostage would keep Dave from hurting him or his friends.

Dave addressed Evan, "You're pretty."

Reid instantly recognized where this was headed and quickly tried to come up with some way to protect his friend. Hoping that his facts would save him as they did once before, Reid started saying the first thing that came to his mind. "You know, it's really important that you get some sleep. There is a relation between multiple health problems and the amount of sleep an average person gets at night, surprisingly enough. Or actually, not that surprising, seeing as how sleep is vastly important for all aspects of the body."

"Shut up," Dave commanded Reid.

Instead of listening, Reid merely spoke faster, hoping that some of the information he was spouting off would stop Dave. "If one gets insufficient amounts of sleep, their body's ability to produce and use insulin is impaired. This can lead to diabetes, which affects nearly ten percent of the United States' population. That's a huge number of people; around 29 million people, if I did my math right. You know, diabetes is actually the seventh leading cause of death, right after Alzheimer's disease. The number one cause of death in the United States is heart disease, but cancer is—"

Reid was interrupted when Dave punched him in the face, the force propelling the young agent backwards. He landed on his arms, which were still twisted uncomfortably behind his back, causing pain to shoot up and down his currently immobile arms. Dave approached the fallen genius, watching as Reid struggled to sit up. "I told you to shut up," he reminded Reid.

"Yes, well, I thought it was important that you know how dangerous it was for you to avoid sleep," Reid grunted, finally managing to maneuver himself so that all his weight wasn't crushing his arms. "I'm looking out for your best interest."

"You're looking out for my best interest?" Dave asked, incredulously. "You're a Fed!" Now that Reid had managed to sit up again, Dave shoved him back to the floor. He bent down, leaning way too far into Reid's personal space. "I could kill you right now, if I wanted to," he threatened. His breath was sour with the remnants of old alcohol and Reid resisted the urge to vomit.

Reid, wisely, remained quiet, only his heavy, pain-filled breathing was heard throughout the room. He ignored the trickle of blood staining his face and glared back at Dave. Reid understood that showing weakness while in a captive situation could very well be detrimental. While, on the other hand, being overly defiant would surely get him killed. Somehow, he had to strike a balance between the two responses.

"But, I'm not going to." Dave turned back to Evan. "I think I want to have a little fun now." He squatted down next to Evan, who backed away as much as he could. Slowly, Dave ran his fingers down Evan's face.

"Don't touch him!" Hank shouted.

Dave looked at Evan's older brother, slightly surprised at the outburst. "Or what? What could you possibly do to stop me?"

"Don't do this," Reid chimed in.

Evan remained fearfully silent.

Dave returned his gaze to Evan, smiling slightly. Before Dave could touch the young CFO, Steve came storming down the stairs. "Dave! What are you doing?" he shouted.

"I was just gonna have some fun," Dave whined petulantly.

Steve held up his left hand, the ring on his finger glinting in the light. "We're married. You know what that means, right?"

"But, he's pretty," Dave pointed out.

"Being married means that we don't have sex with whatever pretty prisoners happen to be in our basement," Steven reminded his husband, his eyes flashing angrily. "Now, come up to bed with me. Maggie's asleep and the prisoners will still be here tomorrow morning."

Reluctantly, Dave touched Evan's face one last time, before following his partner up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, he paused and flicked the lights off, plunging the basement in absolute darkness. Reid's heart began beating wildly as he searched for even the faintest pinprick of light to focus his attention on. Nothing. From beside him, he could hear Hank beginning to talk to Evan, so Reid latched onto the words to buoy him up out of the darkness.

"Are you okay, Evan?" Hank asked. He couldn't see his brother, so he had no idea what emotions were flitting across the younger man's face. Normally, Evan was easy to read, especially for Hank. But, if Hank couldn't see his brother's eyes, he wouldn't know what to say to make this okay. And he had to make it okay.

Evan remained silent, trying to slow his frantic heartbeat. He wanted to answer Hank—he could hear the worry in Hank's voice—but he couldn't trust his voice to be steady enough, nonchalant enough. So, Evan opted for silence, shutting his eyes against the dark basement. Maybe if he just pretended that he was back at home, where everything was safe and monsters didn't abduct you or try to—

"Evan. Please answer me, Evan. Are you okay?" Hank asked, his voice a little more desperate. If his brother wouldn't answer him, there would be no way for him to fix all of this. Hank was a doctor; fixing things was his specialty. But he needed to know what the problem was before he attempted fixing anything.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Evan muttered, weakly. He leaned his head back against the box he had backed himself into in his efforts to escape Dave. "Just tired," he lied, hoping that Hank would leave him alone.

"Okay, you get some sleep, then," Hank advised. He couldn't resist cracking a slight grin as he continued, "I mean, you heard what Spencer said. Diabetes and all that." Hank looked over where he assumed Spencer Reid remained, but he was unable to even distinguish shapes in the thick darkness. "Should we have someone remain on guard?" Hank asked. "Just in case, someone returns?"

Reid nodded, before remembering that Hank couldn't see him. "Yeah, I'll stay up." He knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. No matter how often he tried to logically explain why there was no use in being afraid of the dark, Reid couldn't shake his fears away. It was basically impossible for him to shut his eyes when he had no idea what could be creeping around beside him.

"Are you sure?" Hank asked. "We could take shifts."

"No, you need to sleep. I've worked countless nights where we don't get sleep for long stretches of time. Once, the case we were working on occupied our time so fully that I didn't get sleep for sixty-three hours. I think I can handle one night without sleep," Reid reassured the doctor.

Hank wasn't totally okay with the idea of leaving the young FBI agent on watch the entire night, but he truly was tired. Now that his adrenaline had fully run its course, he could feel his eyelids drooping, despite all efforts made to keep them open. "Well, if you need some rest, just wake me up."

"Of course," Reid said, leaning back. It was going to be a long night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, once again I'm bored and this chapter was just sitting on my laptop, begging to be put up since I finished it earlier than expected. Anyway, tell me what you think and if I should discontinue it. I have other stuff I could be working on. Special thanks to jayjrat for reviewing! That was just one of those lines where I kinda threw it in there, but didn't think anyone would find it funny. I'm glad you did!**

* * *

Divya Katdare liked to consider herself a clever woman. Divya knew what to look for to diagnose diseases; she had studied far beyond what many of her classmates had. While she couldn't always MacGyver a fix to someone's medical problem like Hank could, she was getting better at using what supplies were present to help the injured patient. Divya thought she could handle any situation that was flung upon her. Or at least she had, until she arrived at the police station.

"Look, my friends are missing," Divya tried to explain to the officer.

He popped his bubblegum loudly before looking up at her. "And 'ow long 'ave they been missin'?" he asked, a distinct cockney accent coloring his words. Divya really didn't understand why he was working in the States, but figured she wasn't one to say anything, seeing as she had a British accent also.

"I don't know. Probably since early yesterday afternoon. I came over this morning and they weren't there."

"Are ya sure they ain't just somewhere else? Family's house? Movies?" the officer suggested.

Divya quickly read his name tag. "Yes, Officer Browning. The door was wide open. Hank wouldn't have left the door open. Besides, both Hank and Evan's cars were still in the driveway."

"Well, let's assume that they went missing 'round twelve in the afternoon." Officer Browning glanced at the clock. "We've got another three hours 'fore we can file the missing person's reports. I'd suggest you go back to the house an' see if they 'aven't come back yet. Then, in three hours, if they're still missin', you can come back. 'Ow's that?"

"I don't understand why you can't start the search yet."

"It 'asn't been 24 hours yet. We can't do anything 'til it's been a full day, missy." He turned to the papers on his desk. "Now, if you'd excuse me, I have a job to do."

Divya turned away, frustrated. "I will be back," she informed the officer. He only shrugged, already busy examining whatever papers were stacked on his desk. She left the police precinct, wondering what she could do for the next three hours until the police would come and help her find Hank and Evan. She could try to be some sort of amateur detective, her own version of Nancy Drew, but she didn't want to mess up the crime scene. Divya had seen enough crime shows to know not to touch anything, so she couldn't go back to the house. Not until the police came with her. With a sigh, Divya tried calling Hank again, doubting that he would pick up. Something bad had happened; she just knew it.

* * *

Aaron Hotchner settled back in his chair on the jet as the team headed back to Quantico. They had solved the case relatively quickly. The UnSub had been kidnapping eight year old girls, but no bodies had been found. Luckily, Garcia had been able to figure out who the UnSub was and locate his property. The team had managed to catch him by surprise out on his farm. The three girls were unharmed and safe with their families now.

Recognizing that the case was nearly over, Hotch had called Reid to tell him he didn't need to fly out to Pennsylvania. The young genius hadn't answered, but he hadn't showed up either, so Hotch figured Reid had gotten the message and was back at the BAU, awaiting his team's return.

The jet had just landed, when Hotch's cell rang. "Agent Hotchner," he answered.

"Uh, yes, Agent Hotchner. I'm Head Detective Carl Cheung from the East Hampton Village Police Department. I tried calling your office, but I was forwarded to your cell. I hope I'm not disturbing you or anything."

"What is this about?" Hotch asked. Cases were supposed to go through JJ, so he wasn't entirely excited for whatever Detective Cheung would tell him.

"Does SSA Spencer Reid work for you?"

Hotch stopped, mid-stride. Why would this man be calling about Reid? "Yes, he's a profiler for the BAU. Why?"

"We found his DNA at what appears to be a crime scene in the Hamptons. We were wondering if he could come in for questioning."

"I haven't seen him all day; I just got back from a case in Pennsylvania. Let me check the office and see if he's there. I will call you back shortly."

"Thank you," Detective Cheung said. "We don't necessarily think he's a suspect. I just don't understand why his DNA is here."

"Of course," Hotch said shortly, hanging up. He looked up, noticing his team staring at him.

SSA Derek Morgan broke the silence. "Was that about Reid?"

"Yes," Hotch admitted, starting back to the BAU office.

"Well, is he okay?" JJ asked.

Hotch shrugged. "I don't know. His DNA was found at a crime scene in the Hamptons."

"The Hamptons?" Agent Emily Prentiss asked. "What in the world was he doing out there?"

"That's what we need to find out."

The team arrived at the BAU rather quickly, but Reid wasn't at his desk. Penelope Garcia approached the team, noting the way Morgan ran his hand over his scalp worriedly. "Hey, what's up?" she asked.

"Reid's DNA was found at a crime scene in the Hamptons," Morgan explained.

"And he won't answer his cell," JJ added from across the room, where she had her phone pressed up against her ear.

Garcia's eyes widened. "What does this mean?"

"I don't know, but we're heading to the Hamptons. Head Detective Cheung has left the crime scene the way they found it. Maybe we'll find a clue about why Reid was there," Hotch said. Since the team had just gotten back from a case, their go bags were already packed and it only took a few minutes to get the jet ready for take-off. Soon they were on their way to the Hamptons.

"Maybe he has a friend there," Prentiss suggested.

"Wouldn't he have told us?" Morgan asked.

"Reid is very private," Dave Rossi pointed out. "It could be that he just didn't want us to know he has friends out there."

"Why wouldn't he have told us that he was investigating a crime out there?" JJ asked. "We could have helped."

Morgan shrugged. "Remember when he thought his father was the killer? It could just be that he figured he could handle whatever he was investigating himself."

"There's no use speculating," Hotch advised. "We'll be there shortly and then we can figure out what exactly occurred."

* * *

The FBI agents drove down the long gravel driveway, finally coming in view of a beautiful mansion. "Wow," Prentiss breathed. "I really want to meet Reid's friends now."

Once the agents had left the SUV, they were waved over by a short Asian officer. "It's good to meet all of you. I'm Head Detective Carl Cheung."

"Yes, we spoke on the phone," Hotch said. "Can we see the crime scene?"

"Of course. Right this way." Detective Cheung led the group away from the mansion and toward a side building. "This is the guest house. Brothers, Hank and Evan Lawson, have lived here for nearly two years now. Hank is a concierge doctor and he and his brother operate the company HankMed, with the help of Divya Katdare. She's the one who alerted the police that the brothers were missing.

"When the officers arrived here, they noticed the three glasses on the table. That's what led me to believe that someone had been here with them, possibly the suspect, moments before the brothers went missing. We sent samples to the lab to see if we could find out who had been with them. Agent Reid's DNA was a match, once we ran it through the system. Do you have any idea what he was doing out here?" Detective Cheung asked.

Hotch had been scanning the room for any clue as to why Reid had been here, but turned toward Cheung to answer the question. "I do not. He requested yesterday off for personal reasons. He didn't give an explanation and I didn't press him. As far as I know, Reid didn't have any connections with anyone living in the Hamptons."

"And the Lawsons? Did he know them?" Cheung asked.

Hotch turned to Morgan. "Call Garcia and have her run Reid's name with the Lawson brothers. Look for any connections. He must have known them somehow. He wouldn't just come here without a reason."

Morgan quickly pulled out his phone. "Hey baby, I need you to run Reid's name with Hank and Evan Lawson."

"I don't really want to go through Reid's life; it just feels dirty," Garcia complained, her fingers flying across the keys as she entered the parameters of the search.

"I know, sugar, but we need to figure out why Reid was out here."

"I'll call you once I get anything," Garcia promised, hanging up.

Prentiss had been examining the room, when she noticed the two crumpled papers under the table. After putting on gloves, she examined the notes. "Did you see these?" she asked.

"No," Cheung admitted. "We were more focused on the water glasses. And then once you said you'd come out here, I had my men leave the building. We didn't want to change anything before you got here." He peered over Prentiss' shoulder to see the papers. "What do they say?"

"They're threats," she said, surprised. "Someone was being threatened. Is that why Reid was here?"

Cheung nodded slowly. "I remember those. Hank found the first one on his desk three days ago. The other one appeared a day after that. His brother, Evan, brought them to the police station, but I didn't think that they were serious. It looks like a joke a teenager would play."

"I agree," Prentiss said, rereading the notes. "They don't seem serious; they're so unclear. But, these would explain why Hank and Evan are missing. Reid must've just been in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"What I don't get is why Reid was here in the first place." Before Morgan could continue, his phone rang.

"I've got info," Garcia said as a greeting. Morgan put her on speaker and she continued. "At first, there wasn't any connection between Hank and Evan and our little Reid. They grew up in New Jersey, Reid in Vegas. Anyway, I started digging through the Lawson brothers' background, which, warning, is pretty sad. But, they just seemed like normal guys. The only less than legal thing that happened to the brothers is that Evan was involved in a money scam. He testified against the guy who ran the scam and claimed that he didn't realize it was a scam."

"So?" Prentiss asked. "Where are you going with this?"

"I'm getting there. Anyway, Evan met the scammer his senior year at MIT. Reid went to MIT. So, I did some cross-checking, and they were both at MIT for a year. Evan was a freshman and Reid was graduating with his degree in mathematics. That has to be the connection."

"When was this?" Hotch asked.

"Back in 1998. A little over twelve years ago. Reid was sixteen and Evan was eighteen. I've scoured the internet, but it seems as if Reid and Evan Lawson haven't been in contact since that year. After Reid graduated, their paths go entirely different ways," Garcia explained.

"Until now," Rossi said quietly. "Do you think Reid headed out here because of the threats?"

JJ folded her arms across her chest. "It makes the most sense. Evan must have contacted him and he came."

"But, if he saw these notes, he'd say that it was just a juvenile prank. He would've come back home," Prentiss pointed out.

"Unless the UnSub interrupted them somehow. Abducted them," Morgan suggested. "That would explain the lack of bodies."

"There is no sign of struggle, though," Rossi pointed out. "Somehow, our UnSub got three men, one of them being an FBI agent, to come with him of their own accord." He sighed. "We best get started on a profile."

"With what? All we have are these nondescript notes and three missing people," Prentiss pointed out. "We don't know his MO, we don't have any idea what his motive could be."

Hotch looked grim. "We'll work with what we have. We don't have time to wait for a body."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, everyone! College just started back up and I'm so excited for this semester. I'm taking a fencing class! I'm afraid I'm going to be quoting Inigo Montoya the entire semester... Anyway, probably two chapters left on this baby. Enjoy!**

* * *

Hotch stared at the board they had set up, quite displeased that Reid' picture was tacked up next to Hank and Evan Lawson's: the victims. Pictures of the crime scene were also posted, but Hotch didn't really think that they would find anything useful from those pictures. It looked like Reid had been talking with the two brothers when they were taken. But there was no sign of a scuffle in the house, so the three men either went willingly or were abducted outside, where any signs of a scuffle could easily be disguised in the gravel driveway.

"What do we know so far?" Rossi asked, prompting a discussion amongst the team.

"I just can't believe that one UnSub could abduct three grown men," Morgan began. "There has to have been more than one."

Prentiss agreed. "Yes, and our UnSubs know Hank Lawson somehow. He's the one that the threats are actually addressed to."

"Why would he take Evan or Reid?" JJ asked. "If Hank was the target, wouldn't it be easier to abduct him alone. I mean, Hank Lawson is a concierge doctor, so he probably is on his own often enough to make him a relatively easy target. If anything, they could fake a medical emergency and call Hank."

"It doesn't make sense for him to take Evan or Reid unless there was a reason for those abductions," Rossi pointed out.

"Why Reid?" Morgan asked. "I highly doubt the UnSub knew who he was. Unless, Reid is hiding a lot more in his past than we realize."

Hotch shook his head. "Reid was probably just a crime of opportunity. If we remove him from the equation, and just look at Hank and Evan's abduction, we'll be able to better understand the UnSub or UnSubs."

"So," Prentiss began. "I'm mad at Hank. I want him to pay. I decide to abduct him. But, I also abduct his brother. Why would I do that?"

"How close are Evan and Hank?" Rossi suddenly asked.

Morgan shrugged. "Well, they're still living and working together. That's hard if you don't like someone. I couldn't say for sure, but it at least appears that they have a good relationship. We can ask Ms. Katdare tomorrow." Morgan glanced at his watch, noticing that it was already past midnight. "Ugh, later today."

Rossi sighed. "It's torture. By hurting Evan, the UnSubs are psychologically hurting Hank. And as a doctor, Hank is going to be more upset that he is unable to help his injured brother."

"If they don't know who Reid is," JJ brought up, "do you think they realize he's an FBI agent?"

"I highly doubt it."

"What will they do when they find out?" JJ asked.

Hotch turned back to the board. "We have to hope that they don't. Until then, we need a working profile so we can find the UnSubs."

"There isn't enough to go off of," Morgan complained, gesturing at the nearly empty board. "All we know is that there is more than one UnSub. They know Hank, have some sort of beef with him. They plan to psychologically torture Hank. That could be anyone!"

"Not quite," Rossi began. "The use of psychological torture as a weapon is quite telling, actually. This is the mark of a more intelligent UnSub, one who has most likely graduated college. I'd be willing to bet that the leader of the team came up with the idea of psychological torture, but he isn't going to be the one torturing Evan. No, he'd leave that to the second UnSub."

"They both get off of torture. One will get his release through inflicting pain on Evan and the other by watching Hank's psychological pain," Prentiss said.

"There's just one huge problem with that picture," JJ observed, her mouth turned slightly downward as she shoved back the emotion she was feeling.

Rossi turned to her, only slightly confused. "What?"

"The UnSubs have no use for Reid."

"Until we know for certain that they have killed him, we will go about this case as if he were alive," Hotch said firmly, ignoring the dread feeling clenching his stomach. He couldn't bear to lose a single member of his team and hoped that this case would not end with the BAU team short one genius. "Garcia," he said, turning to the laptop that was set up, where Garcia had been listening via video call.

"Yes?" she responded, keeping the worry from her voice. The last time Reid had been abducted, she had watched him die. Sure, Tobias Henkel had resuscitated him, but that hadn't alleviated that crushing fear that had resided in her chest for the entirety of his capture.

"I need you to see how many deaths have occurred at Hank's hands," Hotch continued.

"You think that's why the UnSubs are targeting Hank?" Garcia clarified.

"It's very possible," Hotch merely said.

Garcia nodded. "I'm on it. I'll be back to you soon."

"Until we have that information, we are going to take a break. Everyone get some rest. And then tomorrow, Morgan and Prentiss, I want you to go talk to Divya Katdare. She is a co-owner of HankMed with Hank and Evan Lawson. She might have an idea of who took the brothers."

After Morgan, Prentiss, and JJ had left, Hotch turned back to the board, hoping that he had missed something. Rossi remained beside him, also searching the board for the information both agents knew was not up there. There had to be some sort of clue, something that they had missed that could give a hint at who the mysterious UnSubs were. Hotch wasn't sure how long he had been standing there, when his cell phone buzzed. "Garcia."

"Hank is a surprisingly fantastic doctor," Garcia began, fighting back a yawn. "While here in the Hamptons, he has only lost around ten people. But, before he came here, he had the misfortune of being fired from the ER he worked at."

"Why?" Hotch asked.

"Apparently, this kid came in around the same time a bigwig hospital funder dude. Hank did what he could for the rich guy, but devoted most of his time to the kid. The bigwig died, but the kid was saved. Hank was fired and his life promptly went down the drain, leading Evan to bring him out to the Hamptons to start over." Garcia paused for a moment, before continuing, "I looked in the backgrounds of family members of everyone who had died under Hank's attempts to save them. Hotch, it doesn't look like anyone would do this."

Hotch quickly asked, "Did you look for criminal records? The second UnSub, not the alpha, will have a background with torture. Maybe animal cruelty."

"I know, but none of that's there. Are you sure this is the right path?"

"Yes, you'll just have to keep digging," Hotch said, sounding a little crueler than he meant.

"Alright. Garcia out."

"And Garcia?" Hotch quickly added before she could hang up. "Get some rest."

"Aye, aye, Captain."

Rossi looked up at Hotch. "She's trying. We all are."

"I know. I'm just afraid that it won't be good enough."

* * *

Hank awoke with a start, momentarily forgetting where he was. He glanced around the room, only seeing boxes stacked haphazardly around him. Then he noticed his brother, handcuffed and slumped against the floor. Everything came rushing back: the threats, Spencer Reid, the abduction. "Evan," Hank whispered, not knowing if Dave or Steve were nearby and definitely not wanting to alert them if they were.

Evan shifted, waking up slowly and uncomfortably. "Hank?" he rasped, his voice thick from sleep.

"Yeah, I'm right here. Are you okay?" Hank asked. His arms were beginning to make themselves known as pins and needles ran up and down his taut muscles. Hank really wished he could get out of the handcuffs, if only to stretch for a short time.

"I'm handcuffed," Evan muttered, pulling himself up to a sitting position. "So, I'm not doing so swell. Where's Spencer?"

Reid raised his bleary eyes in Evan's direction. "Over here. By my judge, it's about ten in the morning. Steve came down a few hours ago, but left when he saw you guys were sleeping. My guess is that he and Dave are at work and Maggie's at school. The house has been completely silent since then." Reid snorted slightly. "I'm just glad he left the light on in the basement." His eyes lazily flicked up to the sole bulb, before returning to Hank's.

"You need to get some sleep," Hank said. "You look awful."

Evan twisted his head, trying to make eye contact with his friend. "You didn't sleep last night? After your whole speech, Spencer?"

Reid laughed a little. "I wasn't tired," he lied. "And someone needed to keep watch."

"Well, you're clearly tired now. I can stay up. You should try to get some rest," Hank commanded.

Fighting back a yawn, Reid nodded his head. "Fine. But wake me if anything happens." It was only moments before Reid had succumbed to sleep, finally allowing his exhausted eyes to close.

* * *

Morgan and Prentiss stopped in front of a large house a little after six in the morning. No one had really gotten a lot of sleep the night before, but they still had a job to do and they had to do it well in order to bring Reid home. The house had a wide, green yard, well-manicured. "I don't think I'll ever get used to the Hamptons," Prentiss observed, slamming the door of the black SUV. "Look at this place. Sergio and I would have parties every day in a house like this. And we'd be hosting giant parties, not just small close-friends-only parties."

"Sergio, eh?" Morgan asked, raising an eyebrow at Prentiss.

"My cat," she explained.

Morgan snorted, quite amused. He, too, paused for a moment to gape at the expansive house. "I still can't believe Reid has connections out here. He is definitely paying next time we hit up a bar."

"Well, if Reid only knew Evan for one year in college, I doubt he has the funds that you think he does."

"He can still pay," Morgan replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I know I could use a free drink after this entire fiasco Reid's putting us through."

The two agents approached the door and Prentiss knocked on the door. Divya Katdare opened the door rather quickly, evidence that she was on edge, waiting for any new information on Hank and Evan's whereabouts. Recognizing the two agents as FBI agents, Divya wasted no time in asking what was on her mind. "Do you have any news on Hank and Evan?"

"We have the start of a profile, but we wanted to talk to you about the Lawson brothers. If we can understand them better, we'll be able to understand why they would be targeted and who did the targeting," Morgan explained.

Noticing that Divya's face fell quickly, Prentiss interjected, "We will find them."

"I know. I believe you. It's just," she paused, waving her hands in the air slightly, "I can't understand why anyone would kidnap Hank and Evan. I mean, Hank's probably a normal hostage, but Evan probably doesn't realize when he should shut up. I know there have been times when I've just wanted to strangle—" Divya quickly cut herself off, her hands flying to her mouth. "You don't think… you don't think they would've—"

"We don't know," Prentiss interrupted the Indian woman. "But, we aren't going to assume anyone is dead."

"He may be annoying, but Evan is nice. He's sweet. He doesn't deserve to be—You don't think they'll kill him, right?" Before Prentiss or Morgan could respond, Divya continued, "And Hank! Do you think he's okay?"

"Ms. Katdare," Morgan interrupted Divya, hoping to preempt a worried spiel. "We do not know anything yet. If you want to help us, you need to stop worrying and tell us what we need to know."

Divya nodded, finally quieting and allowing the agents into her house. "What information do you need? I will help you with everything I can."

"Is there anyone you know of who would want to hurt Hank?" Morgan asked.

"No, not that I can think of. Hank does a lot of good. He really cares for all of his patients and honestly just wants to help them."

"Maybe it's someone who couldn't afford Hank's fees?" Prentiss suggested.

Divya shook her head. "Hank is really good about that. He only takes what people can afford. There's one fisherman who pays Hank in fish because he doesn't have the actual cash to pay his bills."

"Do you know anything about Hank's past life, before he moved out to the Hamptons?" Prentiss asked.

"I know the basics. While he was working on a teenager, one of the hospital's trustees died on the operating table. Hank was blamed and fired, even though he had saved the teen's life and the death was clearly just a fluke. After that, Hank's life fell apart: he drank and his engagement fell apart. Evan was the one who dragged him here. His first night in the Hamptons, he ended up saving a girl's life before Boris, who hired Hank in place of his original concierge doctor. The two of them started HankMed and I was hired as Hank's physician's assistant. I don't really know much about their life before the Hamptons," Divya admitted. "I should have asked them; I would be able to better help you if I had."

Morgan quickly reassured her, "It's just fine. We're just trying to find out as much about Hank as we can to understand why he would be targeted."

"What about Evan?" Divya asked. "Shouldn't you by asking yourself why he was targeted also?"

Prentiss and Morgan exchanged a quick look before Prentiss explained, "We think that Evan was only abducted to be used as leverage against Hank."

"Leverage?" Divya repeated slowly, the word souring on her tongue. "What do you mean by that?"

"We're looking for two men who are targeting Hank. They abducted Evan also as a means to torture Hank. It is quite likely that one man gets off of actual physical torture, while the other enjoys the mental torture. What we are expecting to see is that one man tortures Evan to torture Hank," Prentiss informed the young physician's assistant.

"Torture?" she whispered.

Morgan nodded slowly. "Yes, but the sooner we find these men, the sooner Hank and Evan will be safe. We don't expect the UnSubs will kill them. As bad as it sounds, the UnSubs will want to prolong the pain as long as possible. This will give us time to find and rescue your friends."

"And the FBI agent?" Divya suddenly asked. "What about him?"

"How did you find out about the agent?" Prentiss asked. They had instructed Cheung to keep that information from the press. If the UnSubs did not already know that Reid was an agent, then any news about his abduction would be very bad for him. Prentiss' mind immediately went back to when she and Reid were stuck in that hostage situation and she was beat up for being an FBI agent. Once again, she didn't want to see anything like that happen to the young, innocent Reid.

Divya shrugged. "I overheard you at the police station. What will happen to your agent?" she asked again. "Will he be okay?"

Morgan hesitated slightly before responding, "We aren't sure. If the UnSubs discover he is an FBI agent, they could become very unpredictable. They could kill him. In fact, even if they don't realize he's an FBI agent, they still may kill him; he has no part in their scheme for Hank and Evan."

"I'm sorry," was all Divya could say.

Abruptly, Morgan stood up. "Thanks for your help. We'll contact you as soon as Hank and Evan are back."

He left the house, before Prentiss could stop him. "I'm sorry, he's just worried about Reid," Prentiss explained to Divya. "We all are."

"Of course. I really hope you bring them home safe. All of them."

Prentiss nodded and left to find Morgan. Just as she caught up to him, her phone buzzed with a new text. "Garcia's got a lead. We're expected back at the station."


	5. Chapter 5

**So, it's still Tuesday where I live. I'm not late, I swear. Anyway, I don't have anything witty to say, so I'll just post this chapter and go to bed. It's late, man.**

* * *

Reid awoke slowly. At first he couldn't place what had woken him, but as his senses returned to him, he began to pick out what had awoken him. Some muted conversation was taking place next to him. "Do you think they're looking for us?"

"I'm sure Divya's already alerted the police."

"And since Spencer is missing, his team will be helping too, don't you think?"

Reid still couldn't place the names of the voices, but they were clearly talking about him.

"I hope so. Maybe they'll be able to figure out who Steve and Dave are. I still don't know who they are."

"Ugh," Reid groaned as he recalled everything that had happened the day before. He was stuck in a basement of two UnSubs with Evan and Hank Lawson. "How long have I been sleeping?" Reid asked.

Hank shrugged as best as he could with his arms so restricted. "I don't really know. It's been a long time."

"Dave and Steve?" Reid questioned.

"They haven't showed up. Thankfully," Evan responded.

"But, they're probably going to get off of work soon," Reid said, pulling himself up into a sitting position.

The three men remained silent for a moment, before Evan asked Reid, "Do you think they'll find us soon? Your team, the police, anybody?"

Reid shrugged as best he could. "I hope so." Reid relished having all the facts and being 100% sure of what would happen. But at the moment, he wasn't certain that his team would ever even realize that he had gone to the Hamptons. And if they weren't even looking in the right place, there was no way the BAU could rescue the three men. Deciding to change the topic to something that Reid was certain about, he commented, "I have to use the bathroom." Steve had allowed them to relieve themselves late the night before—or maybe it had been early morning— but Reid's bladder was filling up quickly.

"And I'm starving," Evan complained. Noticing that Hank was rolling his eyes, Evan continued, "And my arms hurt. I also think I left the oven on. Or the iron."

"Will you stop complaining?" Hank asked.

Evan looked as if he was about to retort, but footsteps on the stairs preempted his sarcasm. Steve came down, closely followed by Dave. Dave carried a rusted bucket that the three men were all too familiar with. It was humiliating to have to pee in front of four other men. Evan was just grateful that he didn't have to "go number two," to put it lightly.

After the men had relieved themselves and were resituated in their spots on the floor, leaning against the cardboard boxes, Steve knelt down in front of Hank. "Do you know who I am? Do you know what you did to my brother?" he asked.

"I've never seen you before in my life," Hank admitted.

"I know," Steve responded. Reid glanced at Steve in surprise. Was this a random abduction? That didn't fit at all with what the profile was telling him. Steve continued, "It's your fault my brother died. If you had been his doctor, not that dirty woman, he would still be alive."

"I—I didn't know. If I had known, I would have tried to save your brother as best I could."

Steve shrugged. "It's too late now. You're the reason my brother died. Now, you're going to be the reason your brother dies."

Hank glanced at his younger brother fearfully. "I won't hurt him," he said.

"That doesn't mean you won't be the cause of his death," Steve threatened.

"You don't have to do this," Reid interrupted abruptly. "Let's just think this through, okay? I'm sure Hank can do something to help you that doesn't involve—"

Steve cut him off, reaching behind his back. "I'm really sick of you, Fed." He pulled a gun out of his back waistband. "I don't really enjoy killing, but I feel like I could make an exception for you."

"You don't have to do this," Reid repeated, quietly. He no longer cared about the fear shining in his eyes. He was going to die and he could do absolutely nothing about it. His team would find these two men, Reid believed that they could manage to catch killers quickly as long as they got the Hamptons connection, but it would be too late for him. They would find his cold, dead body. They would see his wide, unmoving eyes locked on the ceiling. They would note the pool of congealed blood beneath his still body. And there would be absolutely nothing that they could do about it. Morgan would blame himself and probably kill Dave and Steve with his bare hands. No, Hotch wouldn't allow that, but he would probably feel at blame also. Garcia would cry. Prentiss would remain stoic, but she would still be hurt. Rossi wouldn't show emotion, but he would feel guilty. They would have to tell JJ. She would cry. And, oh, it would hurt. His death would be painful. He had been shot in the knee before and that was painful enough. He looked at Evan and Hank, hoping that they would understand that it wasn't their fault.

Two gun shots rang out.

The day had just gone from bad to worse.

* * *

"I think I've got it!" Garcia sounded triumphant as she reappeared on the screen of the laptop. "I couldn't find anyone who had died under Hank's care that could have prompted an action such as this, so I looked at HankMed as a whole. That's where I hit gold. Divya Katdare, the Physician's Assistant, was called to the scene of a car crash. Despite her good efforts, Samuel McLaughlin still died. Samuel has a brother, Steven McLaughlin, so I looked into his background. Steven's a good kid and he doesn't have any record at all. Attended Harvard and got good grades. A few years ago, he married his partner, Dave Jenkins. Dave, on the other hand, is not a good kid. He has two restraining orders and his dog was found horribly mangled back when Dave was ten. They never solved that mystery, but I'm pretty sure we know what happened."

Hotch nodded briskly. "Thanks, Garcia. Do you have an address?"

"Already sent it to your phones. But, Hotch," she began, "there's one more thing. When you go break into their house to rescue Reid and the Lawson brothers, be careful. Steven and Dave have a six year old daughter, Maggie."

"Okay." He turned to Morgan, Prentiss, and Rossi. "We've got an address. Let's go."

* * *

Reid slumped over on his side, not facing the two brothers. Hank could see that he was breathing, but it wasn't looking good for him. Beside him, Evan whimpered slightly. "Spencer," he whispered. "Spencer, please—" his voice cut out with a sob. They had just shot his friend, a friend who wouldn't have even been there if Evan hadn't called him up to the Hamptons. Reid didn't move and Evan allowed a second sob to escape his mouth, before he shut it against his shoulder, holding the tears and cries in. Spencer wouldn't want him to cry. Spencer would be strong.

"Oh, shut up," Steve complained. "I really don't need to listen to your pitiful sobs." He turned to Dave. "You ready?"

Dave grinned, sending chills down Hank's spine. Evan was still breathing harshly into his shoulder and so he didn't see Dave's sick smile. "Oh, I've been ready."

Steve looked Hank in the eye, before saying. "This is going to hurt you." He smiled. "And I'm going to love it."

Before Hank could say or do anything to stop Steve and Dave, Dave's arm flashed out, a knife cutting deeply into Evan's stomach. Evan cried out, the shock overpowering any other feeling. Then the pain sucker-punched him in the stomach and his scream morphed into a low-throated moan. He briefly wondered if Spencer was in as much pain as he was. Evan hoped he wasn't. Maybe he had died quickly.

"Evan!" Hank screamed, trying to shift as close as he could to his injured brother. He turned to Steve, who was grinning maliciously. "Uncuff me! Let me help him! He's hurt, let me help him!"

"How about no?" Steve suggested. Dave thrust the knife in again and again.

Evan's screams were possibly the worst thing Hank had ever heard. "Evan, Evan, it's going to be okay," Hank babbled, yanking against the constraints. "I'm going to help you; you're going to be okay. Please let me help him!"

After the fourth thrust, Dave sat back, cleaning the knife on the carpet. "I'm going to go check on Maggie," he said, before nearly skipping up the stairs.

Hank began to beg, something he had never truly done before. "Please, Steve, please let me help Evan. If you let me out now I can still save him. Please, I'll do anything. I'll give you anything. Just—please let me help him."

"There is nothing you can do to save your brother. You get to watch him die, just as I did."

"No, please," Hank pleaded. He allowed himself to look at his injured brother, but Evan wasn't looking too good. His younger brother was slumped against the cardboard box behind him, his eyes shut against the pain. Blood methodically gushed out of his multiple stab wounds. He was going to die, Hank realized. Evan was going to die and he would have to watch the life slip from his baby brother. "Please…"

Steve laughed, tossing a key a few feet in front of Hank. "Here's the key to the handcuffs. If you can manage to get out of your handcuffs, I will allow you to try to save your brother." Hank immediately tried to inch his way forward, but Steve's hand against his shoulder put a stop to that. "Did I forget to tell you? The rule is that you aren't allowed to move."

"I need to help him," Hank pleaded. "If you just let the two of us go, I won't press charges." But, he had killed Spencer. Maybe. Hank had stopped watching to see if the young FBI agent was breathing; all of his attention was now focused on saving his baby brother.

"For some reason, I don't believe that. I mean, I shot your Fed friend, so I don't think you're going to let me run free for any reason."

"A confession, that's good," a new voice said. Hank looked up, seeing a dark-skinned man with his gun trained on Steve. He wore an FBI bullet-proof vest and Hank could have started crying if he wasn't so worried about Evan. They were going to be saved. The FBI had found them. "Put your hands in the air," he commanded.

Steve reluctantly complied, recognizing that he had no way of escaping arrest. "This is your fault Hank," he reminded the young doctor, sneering as a police officer led him upstairs.

The new FBI agent knelt down near Hank, "Are you okay?"

"I need the key. Please, get these handcuffs off so I can help Evan," Hank pleaded.

"I'm Derek Morgan," the agent told Hank as he unlocked the cuffs. "There is an ambulance outside. Where's Reid?" he added.

Hank was unlocking his younger brother's handcuffs, but he paused only momentarily to say, "I'm sorry. Spencer is over there." He quickly began stemming the blood flow from Evan's stomach. "I don't know if he's still breathing," Hank admitted. "I was more focused on Evan."

Morgan knelt down by his young friend, hating to see the blood staining Reid's shirt. This wasn't right. This wasn't supposed to happen. He checked for a pulse and was exceedingly pleased to feel one. It was slow and it was not nearly as strong as Morgan would have wanted, but the young genius was still alive. That's all that mattered. He quickly uncuffed Reid, before backing away to allow the EMTs to take Reid and Evan Lawson from the basement. After the two injured men had been taken, Morgan helped the clearly shocked doctor up the stairs. "It's going to be okay; you're going to be okay."

"It's not me I'm worried about."


	6. Chapter 6

**Sooooooo, I'm actually not dead. I know that this has taken a super long time, but at least it's finally up. In case you can't tell, I hate ending stories; it never goes exactly how I want it to. Anyway, ya'll probably don't care, so read on, my ostriches, and eat many enrolladas (which if you haven't had, do it).**

* * *

Hank paced, back and forth, his worry powering his tireless legs. He shouldn't have to be here, stuck, waiting for a doctor to come out. He should be in the operating room, saving his brother's life. He couldn't just wait here for a doctor to relay Evan's status. Which would be a clean bill of health. Evan had to be okay, he just had to. Hank honestly had no idea what he would do if Evan— He wouldn't even allow himself to think that.

Seated in the waiting room, eyes following Hank's anxious movements were two of the FBI agents from Spencer's team, Hank assumed. One of them, he knew the name of: Derek Morgan. He had been the one that had driven Hank to the hospital. The car ride had been completely silent, both men lost in their own dark thoughts, both men worrying about the two other men the ambulances ahead were transporting.

The other agent had introduced herself as JJ, when she had come into the waiting room, but she had remained silent since then. Abruptly, her cell phone buzzed, the vibration jolting all three out of their thoughts. "Garcia," JJ whispered as a greeting. She was quiet as the other agent spoke, before replying, "No, there isn't any news yet. … I don't know; he didn't look super great. Two GSWs to the stomach…" Her words trailed off as she listened to the other side of the conversation and Hank turned his attention elsewhere.

It wasn't that he didn't care about Spencer Reid. He was one of Evan's friends, for heaven's sake. However, Hank knew that if it was between Evan's life or Spencer's, Hank would always prefer his brother over the agent. It was cold and it probably went against the Hippocratic Oath or the Declaration of Geneva to hold Evan's life above Spencer's, but Hank couldn't help it. Evan was his baby brother. Spencer was just a friend. And not even a close one at that.

A doctor entered the waiting room and Hank, followed by both agents, stepped closer. The doctor had to be there about Evan and it had to be good news. Anything else was just simply unacceptable. "Are you here for Spencer Reid?" the doctor questioned. The two agents nodded quickly and while Hank knew he should probably step back, he was curious to hear the FBI agent's condition. The kid—for that was really what he was; he was younger than Evan—had probably saved their lives. Hank wasn't stupid and recognized that if Spencer hadn't been kidnapped with them, his FBI team wouldn't have even looked for Hank and Evan. If Spencer hadn't been there, and Hank hated to admit this, Evan would probably be dead. That had been Steve's plan, force Hank to watch his brother die and if they hadn't been interrupted by the rescue team, Steve's sick torture would have been carried out.

"I'm Dr. Jacquez, his doctor. When Mr. Reid was brought into the hospital, we found two entry wounds and one exit wound. Which, as I'm sure you can realize, meant that one of the bullets was still in there. That bullet had managed to scrape Mr. Reid's left lung, before becoming lodged in the back of his rib cage. The scrape of the lung and added pressure of the bullet's remainder in the chest cavity, ended up creating a tension pneumothorax. Basically, this is when air escapes the lung, but the lung is unable to be refilled. Mr. Reid's chest was being filled with air, which would eventually crush the lung, leading to a complete collapse. Fortunately, we were able to catch the pneumothorax before it escalated to that stage. Because his pneumothorax was not causing any immediate danger, we were able to insert a chest tube to relieve the pressure, rather than use needle thoracostomy, which can lead to many more problems. Overall, Mr. Reid was very lucky."

"Wait," the second agent that Hank didn't know very well said. "Didn't you say there were two gunshots? What about the second one?"

"Yes," Dr. Jacquez continued, "Mr. Reid was shot twice. The second bullet was a straight in and out. It managed to clip the spleen, but it's only a small tear. We going to keep a close eye on it and Mr. Reid will need to be kept here for a while longer, but the spleen should be able to heal itself. If, within a week, there is no progress on the spleen, Mr. Reid will be taken into surgery and we will stitch up the spleen ourselves. But, while he is healing from the tension pneumothorax, we'd prefer to not perform surgery on him also. Spencer Reid is expected to make a full and complete recovery."

The blonde agent that Hank was almost sure was named JJ, took a shaky breath. "Thank goodness. I thought—" she shook her head, before looking to Derek Morgan, the agent Hank definitely knew the name of. "I'm going to call Garcia. And Hotch."

"I'll sit with him," Morgan responded softly. "May we see him?" he asked Dr. Jacquez.

The doctor nodded. "Of course, he's in room 211. Just take the elevator down the hallway."

Morgan turned to Hank after the doctor had left. "Would you like to come visit him with me?"

"No, I need to wait for Evan. I'm glad Spencer's okay, though."

The FBI agent nodded, ever so slightly, before saying, "Please tell me if your brother is okay. I know… I know Reid would want to know."

"I will," Hank said, resigning himself to sit in one of the uncomfortable hard-backed chair and await his brother's outcome. (Which would be positive; Evan would be fine. If he kept saying it, it would have to come true.)

Hank's thoughts were interrupted when Divya entered the room. "Hank!" she exclaimed, quickly pulling the doctor into a hug. "I just heard you were here. Are you okay?" Divya pulled out of the embrace, looking Hank up and down, examining him for any injuries he could be hiding. "And Evan, he's okay?" Divya added, once she had finished her examination.

"I don't know," Hank admitted. "He's in the OR, currently."

"But… but, it's not serious?"

Hank stared at his PA for a second, wishing that he could say anything but the truth. He desperately wanted to tell her it was just a couple scratches and Evan was just overreacting or that Evan was completely fine. However, he knew that he must tell the truth. "Evan was, ah, stabbed… A couple times."

"Oh, Hank," Divya said, softly. She had known that Evan was in danger ever since the two FBI agents had come to talk to her. They had informed her that the men that had abducted Hank and Evan would most likely torture Evan to torture Hank. But, Divya had tried to ignore that possibility. It wouldn't happen. Evan would be fine. The FBI agents could be wrong. Divya hadn't realized how much she was holding onto that hope until it was ripped from her with the reality of Evan's torture. "Hank, he's going to be fine. Evan is a fighter; he'll pull through."

And wasn't that the stupidest thing to say. Hank, back when he worked in the ER, had often told grieving family members that their loved one was "a fighter," that if the victim "fought," he'd be able to survive. Now, however, Hank realized how hollow those words were. Evan's survival rested on Evan's shoulders alone. There was no way for Hank to help fight the battle for Evan's life. And, what if Evan wasn't strong enough? What if he couldn't pull through, couldn't fight long enough? …what if he died?

"Family of Evan Lawson?" The words yanked Hank out of his negative thoughts and he immediately stepped towards the young female doctor. "I'm Dr. Howard and I'm Mr. Lawson's doctor. You are?"

"Evan's brother," Hank quickly supplied, stepping closer and hoping she would hurry up with the diagnosis. At the same time, though, a part of his brain screamed that there was definite danger that the doctor did not have good news, that Evan was irreparably hurt.

Dr. Howard nodded. "Yes, well, Evan Lawson is an incredibly lucky man." Hank felt a weight that he hadn't realized was pressing down his shoulders lift. Evan would live; Evan would be fine. The doctor continued, "When your brother was stabbed in the stomach, he did lose quite a bit of blood, but none of his organs were pierced. Often, organs can shift out of the way of knives, since the blade is not as fast or as piercing as a bullet. We were able to staunch the bleeding and stitch your brother up and he is expected to make a full recovery. For the next couple days, however, we'd like Evan Lawson to remain in the hospital and abstain from solid foods, at least until his injured stomach is less tender and we are certain that all of his organs are still unharmed."

"May I see him?" Hank asked.

"Yes, of course," Dr. Howard nodded. "He's on the second floor in room 205. If you take the elevator, it's to the left after you get out."

Hank smiled slightly. "Thank you." He immediately set out to find his brother, anxious to see for himself that Evan would be okay. Divya followed close behind. Hank could sense that she wanted to say something, but was thankful that she remained quiet. He just wanted to see his brother and didn't have time for a conversation.

As Hank reached the door of Evan's room, he paused, suddenly hesitant. It could all be a cruel joke that Dr. Howard was playing on him. Evan could be dead. Hank had watched him be stabbed over and over and over again and while he knew that everything Dr. Howard had said was medically correct, he still was unable to shake the feeling that he would be walking in on his brother's corpse.

Divya glanced at Hank in confusion, waiting for him to open the door. Ignoring her searching gaze, Hank pulled the door open, taking the entire room in at once. Evan was laying quite still on the starchy hospital bed, the white sheets drawing whatever color was in Evan's cheeks and making his younger brother look all the more pale. The heart monitor beeped steadily, reminding Hank that Evan was fine. He would be fine. Hank settled in the chair next to Evan's bed, gently taking his baby brother's hand in his own. "It'll be okay, Ev. You're gonna be okay."

* * *

"I hope you realize that you're paying for this."

"It's free. No one is paying for anything."

Derek Morgan shrugged as he and Spencer Reid got out of the black SUV. It had been nearly a month since the whole shooting incident in the Hamptons with the Lawson brothers and Morgan had honestly expected to never return. Reid had been damned lucky. If it had been anyone else than the geeky kid beside him, Morgan suspected that they would have died. But, hey, he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He was just glad that Reid was still up and spouting facts. "Yeah, well, if we did need to pay, you would be paying. You're the one with connections in the Hamptons."

"I wouldn't say connections. I knew Evan for a year."

"Dangerous connections," Morgan continued, ignoring Evan's interruptions. "You got shot because of the connections you had in the Hamptons."

"Will you stop using the word 'connections,' please?" Reid asked, rolling his eyes.

Morgan snorted. "That was your clever retort? I was expecting some marathon of facts about the origins of 'connection' and how that makes me look even more idiotic."

"I'm tired," Reid said, making his way to the front door.

That was true. Morgan had noticed how Reid's comebacks were more sporadic and how he remained quiet. Reid had returned to work a couple days earlier and there had been a noticeable damper on Reid's normally indefatigable persona. "I don't know why… You've taken almost an entire month off of work."

"I was shot, Morgan. I'm pretty sure that merits some time off." Reid fell silent for a moment as Morgan tried to think of something to say in reply. "If you don't want to come along with me, that's totally fine."

"What do you mean?"

Reid rolled his eyes. "Look, I can tell you don't like Hank and Evan. You blame them for my getting shot. So, if you don't want to join me, that's perfectly fine."

"I don't blame them—" Morgan began, but stopped when he saw the look in Reid's eyes. "Okay, I blame them a little bit. I know it really wasn't their fault, but I just can't help thinking that if Evan hadn't—"

"Hadn't what?" Reid interrupted. "Asked for help? If I hadn't been there, both Hank and Evan would have died. So, I'm totally okay with being shot a couple times if it means that all three of us got out of there okay. Or, at least, moderately okay," Reid added with a rueful grin.

Morgan shrugged. He understood exactly where Reid was coming from and knew that the younger man was right, but that didn't make it any easier. "Okay, you're right. I just hope they aren't about to poison us. You haven't talked to Evan for _how_ long? How do you know he can actually cook?"

"I talked to Evan a couple weeks ago," Reid muttered sarcastically. He then added, "I should have just brought Prentiss."

"Wow, I'm offended, Reid."

Reid looked as if he had a comeback, but fell silent as they reached the front door of Boris' garden house. Morgan stepped forward and knocked loudly, earning a glance from Reid. "I'm hungry," Morgan explained.

"Not worried about poison anymore?"

"I'll take my chances."

The door was opened by Hank, who grinned at the sight of the two FBI agents. "Hey, guys. Evan's just finishing cooking. You're right on time." The two agents followed Hank into the room, where Evan was putting a large dish on the table.

He looked up and grinned at Reid. "Hey, Spencer. How're you feeling?"

"Like I've been shot," Reid replied, grinning just as much as Evan.

"It's better than being stabbed," Evan remarked, ruefully.

Hank interrupted his brother before he could continue on. "There will be no talking about shootings or stabbings. We're going to pretend we're just a normal group of friends gathering together for lunch."

"I don't think normal describes any of us," Morgan remarked, sitting down in the chair after Hank gestured him to the table.

"Yeah, well, we can pretend," Hank asserted, helping Evan carry a couple dishes to the table.

"Hear that, Reid?" Morgan asked. "You've gotta pretend you're normal. Try to tone down that genius brain of yours."

Reid rolled his eyes, but took his seat in between Morgan and Evan, across from Hank. Evan quickly dished out the food, some sort of casserole, was all Reid could tell. He cooked for himself, but never really strayed from the safety of pasta, something he had perfected after years of repetition. "What is it?" he questioned, smelling the rich scent of peppers and spice.

"Enchiladas," Evan answered, putting a healthy portion on Reid's plate. "And you need to eat all of it because you are just too skinny. I'm pretty sure the bullet went straight through because there literally was nothing to stop it."

"Hey!" Hank quickly admonished around a mouthful of the cheesy tortilla. "We're pretending Spencer wasn't shot. Remember?"

Evan rolled his eyes. "My bad. Must've slipped my mind."

Before Hank could comment about how it didn't take much for something to "slip" Evan's quite forgetful mind, Morgan remarked, "This is actually really good."

"Well, thankfully, I learned a couple of things that semester down in Guatemala. Not a lot of economics, like I was supposed to, but plenty of Spanish and cooking."

"I'm glad that you learned _something_ ," Hank muttered.

Reid raised his eyebrows. "Enchiladas?"

Evan frowned at his friend. "Okay, enrolladas, if you want to be technical about it," Evan muttered, the Guatemalan word rolling off his tongue with practiced ease. "I just use the lay man's term so that Hank knows what he's eating." Noting the mixture of shock and pride in Reid's eyes, Evan continued, "And you thought you were the only one in the room who knows random facts about food from Latin America."

With a grin, Reid took a bite of his portion of enrollada. "This is really good," he remarked in amazement.

"Are you trying to offend me?" Evan asked. "I understand your FBI buddy's surprise; he doesn't know me. But we've been friends for—"

"A year," Reid interrupted Evan's mini-tirade. "And it was while you were a freshman in college. You didn't do much cooking."

"But, you could've had faith, man…" Evan groused.

Reid snorted. "Okay, Evan. Next time you cook, I'll trust you."

"And next time Hank and I get abducted by psychotic killers, I'll trust you to rescue us."

"Not that there will be a next time," Hank quickly inserted.

"Well, I hope not," Morgan muttered. "I'd hate to have to save your sorry butts ever again."


End file.
